Help Guides

VMware's current support policies and "How To" guides share best practices for accelerating the problem solving process and enhancing your customer experience. Our downloadable Technical Support Welcome Guide covers in detail the support best practices, offerings, lifecycle process and policies.

Help Guides

Lifecycle Policies

General Support Phase

The General Support phase begins on the date of general availability of a Major Release (“GA”) and lasts for a fixed duration. During the General Support phase, for customers who have purchased VMware support, VMware offers maintenance updates and upgrades, bug and security fixes, and technical assistance as per the Support and Subscription Terms and Conditions.

Technical Guidance Phase

Technical Guidance, if available, is provided from the end of the General Support phase and lasts for a fixed duration. Technical Guidance is available primarily through the self-help portal and telephone support is not provided. Customers can also open a support request online to receive support and workarounds for low-severity issues on supported configurations only. During the Technical Guidance phase, VMware does not offer new hardware support, server/client/guest OS updates, new security patches or bug fixes unless otherwise noted. This phase is intended for usage by customers operating in stable environments with systems that are operating under reasonably stable loads. ( See Lifecycle Support Summary Table)

End of Support Life (EOSL)

A product has reached its end of support life when it is no longer generally supported by VMware. End of support life for a specific product is either end of General Support or end of Technical Guidance, if available for that specific product.

End of Availability (EOA) / End Of Distribution (EOD)

A product has reached its end of availability when it is no longer available for purchase from VMware. A product has reached its end of distribution when VMware can no longer make it available as a download from vmware.com or distribute the product in other ways. The end of availability and end of distribution may coincide.

The information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, but updates and revisions may be posted periodically and without notice. VMWARE DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY WARRANTIES COVERING THIS INFORMATION AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, AND SPECIAL DAMAGES, IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE.

End of Availability

Some VMware products have reached their end of availability: they are no longer available for sale or download on the VMware website although VMware may still offer support on some versions. For a complete list of these products, consult the Lifecycle Product Matrix.

Are there different support life cycles for different support offerings?

Does VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy apply globally?

Yes. VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy is a worldwide policy. Local laws and market conditions that require deviations from the standard policy will be accommodated through specific support contracts between VMware and its customers.

Does VMware’s Support Life Cycle Policy specify which OEM systems will be supported?

What are the criteria for determining if a bug is critical or non-critical (as specified by the Support Life Cycle Policy)?

Critical bugs are deviations from specified product functionality that cause data corruption, data loss, system crash, or significant customer application down time. A bug is considered critical if it meets the mentioned criteria and there is no work-around that can be implemented.